Extensible tray for upholstered furniture



Sept. K. J. REYNOLDS 2,330,627

EXTENSIBLE TRAY FOR UPHOLSTEBED FURNITURE Filed Oct. 26, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

INVENTCR. Ka/v/vETHJ Ear/Vol.05,

' ATTORNEY 3.

p 1943- K.'J'. REYNOLDS 2,330,627

EXTENSIBLE TRAY FOR UPHOLSTEREJS FURNITURE Filed 001;. 26, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Y KEN/V19 771 J FE r/vows.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 28 1943 2,330,627 I I ,EXTENSIBLEWTRAY FOR UPHOLSTERED -31:

FURNITURE A lication eastern-1940; sentinel 362,995 f This invention relates to an extensible tray con struc'tion for upholstered. furniture and particularly for upholstered chairs, davenports, settees, or the like. i -In small apartments, and in homes where rooms are srnalland space is limited, it isdifii cult to fit an adequate number of tablespend tables, orstandsintd the room for the purpose,

of supporting plates, cups, glasses, and -'the like,

when refreshments are served. Additionally, even where ample tables are provided, these are customarily highly polished and finished and it is: not desirable to place utensils thereon, and it is especially desirablejto "avoid placing glasses or cups" thereon by reason of the possibility of staining or marking the finish. g

It is, therefore, the primary object f this invention to provide a chair or other seatrhaving v a hollow armrest with a tray sli'dableiri the armrest and adapted to be selectively positioned entirelywithin the arm rest insubstantially con cealed relation or to be extended to operativev position projecting laterally from the upperend oithearmrest. i I

A further'object of this invention is to provide a chair or seat having a hollow arm rest'with a frame therein for guiding" and positioning a tray at and between extended and. retracted posi- "tions. I r

A further object is to provide an extensible I tray'for an article of furniture whereintthertray is of simple construction, easyto operat'e an'd substantially concealed when not-in use. 1 i

A further object of the invention is tojpr ovide a chairl'having ahollowarm rest with a narrow, horizontal opening adjacent its 1 'upper through which a tray member .is 'shiftable, and means for-guiding and supporting thertrayiin operative extended position, in "retracted cone cealed position, andin movement. between said 1 positions.

.Aafurther object is. to provide an upholstered chair having a hollow arm rest provided" with trim members and with ,an opening interrupting said trim members, in which a tray element is mountedior sliding movement to and from operlairns i 1(01. 155 123) elevation,illustrating" my i'exten'sible tray in extended position. '1

- Fig.2 isa view of the:chair.'in side elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarylong'itudinal vertical sectional view of my improved-tray construction applied. to, the armrest ofra chair and taken oni1ine3'.- -3 o'f Figwl. L i a j: Figxr i: is :an enlarged fragmentary transverse ver-tic'al sectional view of the'arm rest ofa chair having:rmy; improved, extensible tray applied thereto, andataken-online lw i OfFig. 3.

:1Fig.5 ,i's aaviewofwaqchair ,inffront elevation illustrating a modified embodiment of my invene tionwith the tray in extended position. .=.=Eig. 6 tis an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical;sectionahview of thecarm rest of the chair, illustrated in Fig..5,a11dj,sh0wing my im-' provedtray in retractedposition therein.

w Fig. ,7;isi arrlenlarged fragmentary transverse verticalzi sectional viewaoi the arm rest of the chair; sh0W.n-f .-in Fig; 5 with :my improved tray illustratedin extended position; i a

*:Fig- 2J8 isan emareed pe pect ve view of the uideirame work accommodating application; of

atray toganyarm rest, somewhat modified from thatillustrated inFigsl 1 to 4,;inclusive.

7 his: Swisa perSpeQt Ve v ew of he, u e 1 a work accommodating application of atray to an;

arm rest; ale-illustrated in Figs. 5 toil, inclusive. Referring to thedrawings, and particularly to i Figs 1 to 4, inclusive, and ,8,;which'- illustrate end ative extended position and retracted concealed position, "wherein said tray has a trim member t t puter endmatching said first, trim member and aligned therewith when the tray is retracted to substantially conceal the, existence of the tray.-

Other, objects will be apparent from the description, drawings, and appended claims. In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a View of an upholstered, chair infront;

ing .strip or cleat [6, preferablyof triangular" cross isectional'shape;secured-to the frame work oi theohair', below thecleat 5 with its outer sin face, preferablyin alignment with the; outer edge;

the preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral lddesignates a chairhaving back il, a. seat; l,2, and arm rests I 3, The chair is preferebl f-the upholsteredgtype whichv is built r un oa am w r sui ab n rad ecla rcred with ,upholstering material; yWhile the in-, ventionqis here illustrated as appliedzto a chair, it will, be obvious that it might; also be' applied to; davenp A stant ially vertical chamber tof-accommodat the ream-9 th .e ml-re i f l'qli' m co prisea horizontal top frame member 1,4, suitably cleat; i5 secured to the lower face or ramem mber 1,4 :a i q he u er side the e;

of tog constitute a nailing-strip, and a second nailof thezcleattit Anotherframe element may be' v r :t, i va f i h re r cle.pf furniturewhich is; provided, with a hollow sub-- Ash st illustrated in eigsfs in 4,1 the Iconhe e er rt o h JW f O a C r.

cleat l1, apiece of upholstering or finishing cloth l9 suitably secured to the frame of the chair at or below the level of the seat and extending upwardly at the inner side of the armrest to and around the outer edge of the top member M to be secured at 20 to the outer under face of topmember l4. Suitable padding or filler material 2l is interposed between the top member l4 and the upholstering cloth l9, and between-the upholstering cloth l9 and the backing sheet l8.

-Another piece of upholstering material '22 is secured at its upper end to the nailing strip and extends downwardly at the outer side of the arm rest to the bottom of the chair.

I. propose to utilize my invention in connection with a chair having a horizontal trim strip 23' positioned at the outer side of each arm rest below the top roll thereof and adapted to be nailed to the cleats i and I6. i

.In practicing my invention, I'interrupt the trim strip23 adjacent the forward. end of the outer sideof the arm rest. Within the. arm' rest,. I mount a tray member 24 formed of any suitable material, uch as wood, ply wood, composition board, or the like, preferably having one face thereof recessed at 25. This tray is of a length I substantially equal to the length of the aforesaid opening and of a width greater than the-width of the arm rest. The tray isn'ormally supported in inclined position within the interior "of the hollow arm rest, and has its outer edge beveled to normally extend in the plane of the "outer face of the members l5 and I6. To this outer beveled edge of the tray is secured a trimmember 26 conforming in contour and decorative effect to the trim member 23 and normally aligned with said member when the tray is'retra'cted, to form a" substantial continuation of said trim member" and thereby substantially conceal the existence of the tray within the chair. "The trim member 26 maybe provided at its rower edge with a hand-gripping undercut groove 21 to facilitate gripping of the edge for ihepurpose ofwithdrawi'ng the-tray. p r w Within thehollow arm rest, I mount a rigid guide frame of a construction substantially as illustrated in Fig. 8. This frame comprises a bar bent'to form a pair 'of parallel vertical runs or portions 28s'pacedapart a distance slightly' greater than the length of tray 24, horizontally forwardly projecting pbrtions'29 atftne u er ends ofportions28, and a cross piece 3ll between the outer ends of portions '29. Guide bars 3| are secured to the inner edges o'f the frame portions lower ends of the frame portions 28. The cross bar 30 is preferably secured to the lower face of the frame cleat l5 at 31 and the lower ends of portions 28 of the frame are preferably secured to the chair cleat ll at 3B. The inner end of the tray 24 is provided with aligned outwardly projecting pins 39 at each side thereof slidably fitting within the guide slots 33 of the frame. Where the frame of the construction of Fig. 8 is employed, the same is so proportioned that the lower cross bar 35 is positioned forwardly from the upper end of the guide slot 33 to occupy the 7 position shown for cleat It in Fig. 4, while in the 28 and extend vertically for the i-najor portion 7 of the height of said portions 28, and said bar's 3| are curved forwardly at 32. Theguide bar 3 l 3'2 is provided with an'elongated slot '33 extending substantially'the full length mer er. The upper forward ends of the guide bar 32 arepreferably supportedby vertical bars 34 secur d to and 'd'epending from the cross bar 30 adjacent theends thereof. A second cross bar 35 'extend's'between the lower ends of the vertical supports 34 m spaced relation belowthe cross bar 30 and spaced'fo'rwardly from the upper 'en'ds"*of th'e slots 33 and thetray be'ar's thereagainst and: is

"partially supported and positioned thereby. An-

other cross bar 36 'serves tos'e'curetogether the tcohstruction illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 said cross bar 35 is entirelyeliminated from the frame.

The frame and the tray are so related and prothe tray isjn fully retracted position, pins 39 at the inner end thereof will rest at the lower ends of the slots 33 of the guide frame. Also, it will be seen that, by this construction, when the tray is shifted within the opening formed at the outer side'of the. arm rest, the pins 39 will ride upwardly in the slot 33 to the forward end thereof within thegcurve portion 32 of the guide frame. When the pins 39 reach the upper forward end of the slot 30, the tray 24will be horizontally positioned and will project, from the outer side of the arm rest to fully expose the recessed portion 25'thereof.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 4, the tray is supported in horizontal extended position by'engagement of the pins 39 with the upper endsz'of slots 33, and by engagement of the lower face of the tray with cleat l8 positioned forwardly from said guide slots at the lower edge of the tray receiving opening in thearm rest. When a-frame of the construction illustrated in Fig; 8 isempl'oyed, the frame cross piece 3!] must.

be positioned adjacent the outer side of the arm rest in iorder to accommodate tilting of the tray in the opening of the arm rest incident to shifti ng: thereof, as will'be obvious.

It will be obvious from the above that the tray construction may be operated very simply and easily by merely sliding the tray outwardly through the openingin'ythe hollow arm rest to extendedposition projecting horizontally therefrom for supporting dishes, glasses, and cutlery used'for service when entertaining informally. When the tray is in retracted position, the trim piece 26 at the outer edge thereof is so positioned asto lie'ih full alignment with trim members 23111 the chair, and, hence, serves effectively tocon'ceal the existence 'of the tray and to avoid detraction from the ornamental appearance of the furniture.

The 'tray is also adapted for application to pieces offurniture' wherein the arm rests l3 are provided at their centers with elongated trim members 40, as best illustrated in Fig. 5. Inithis embodiment of the-inVentiom. the upholstered arm" rest is preferably formed with an upper frame m'ember-Mand a lower frame member lz,

tween theupholstering cloth and the upper face of frame member 4|. The trim member 40 is of a width to extend between the inner edges of the opposite upholstered top portions 41 of the arm rest.

For an arm rest of this construction, I employ a guide frame as illustrated in Fig. 9 and comprising an upper cross bar 48, a lower cross bar 49, and vertical guide bars 50. Complementary bars are formed integrally with guide bars 50 to extend in laterally outwardly upwardly curved relation from one side of each of said guide bars 55 of a length substantially equal to the length of the tray-receiving opening 43 in the arm is used and of a width greater than the width of the arm rest. The tray has a trim member 51 at its outer edge of a size, configuration, and

contour complementary to and the same as the trim members 46), and is of a length corresponding to the spacing between the adjacent ends of trim member 40 on opposite sides of the opening 43. At each side of the inner end of the tray I provide a pair of angularly projecting arms 58 each of which carries an outwardly projecting pin 59 extending into the slot 52 -52 in the adjacent guide bars of the frame.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, the tray assumes a substantially vertical position when retracted. In this position, the inner edge of the trim member 51 bears upon the upper face of the frame member 4| and serves to holdthe tray. Also, in this position, the pins 59 engage in the lower ends of the guide slots 52. A simple upward movement of the tray 56, which may be accomplished by grasping the trim 51 thereof, serves to withdraw the tray from within the arm rest. When the pins 59 reach the curved portion 53 of the guide slots, the tray 53 will be. outwardly pivoted as accommodated by the bent form of the arms 58 of the tray as they pass through opening 43, whereby the tray will assume a horizontal position supported by the outer upholstered portion 41 of the arm rest when the pins 59 reach the upper ends of the guide slots.

I claim:

l. A frame unit for guiding a slidable tray within a hollow arm rest of a chair, comprising a pair of complementary parallel elongated bars each having an elongated slot therein including a lower straight vertical slot portion and upper curved slot portion, reinforcing bars extending perpendicularly outwardly from said slotted bars and secured to the opposite end portions thereof, and rigid cross bars interconnecting the ends of said reinforcing bars, said reinforcing bars and one cross bar having apertures therein to receive securing means for mounting said fram unit within said arm rest.

2. A frame unit as defined in claim 1, and a cross bar interconnecting the upper ends of said slots,

KENNETH J A REYNOLDS. 

